Molding Gap

13 years ago

We are remodeling our kitchen now. We uses Kraft Maid moldings. we used a 3" Starter Molding and on top added a 4 1/8" of Classic Crown molding. We also have a food pantry of 84" height. The problem is that the ceiling is a little bit high of 90 3/8". Mathematically when add all these up 3 + 4 1/8 + 84 = 91 1/8. it is quite close to 90 3/8. We hired a contractor. The contractor said the ceiling is too high so the top of the molding could not be reached. It ends up with a 1 1/4" gap.

I need help to correct this error by raising the molding up to the ceiling. Any technical suggestion will be appreciated.

Steve

This post was edited by Wu7986 on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 21:52

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Comments (10)

Wu7986
Original Author
13 years ago
These were moldings we used
annkh_nd
13 years ago
How frustrating!

The ceiling isn't too high, the molding is too short. I hope your contractor did a better job with the rest of his work. It should have been obvious when he started putting up the first piece that it was too short, and it should have been corrected then.

I hope he resolves it for you!
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williamsem
13 years ago
Did you tell the contractor you wanted to go all the way to the ceiling? If he knew when ordering materials he should have purchased a larger flat piece. Or added another layer of trim.

If he didn't know, and just installed trim the cabinet rep ordered, then whoever ordered the trim should fix it if they knew you wanted it to the ceiling before ordering.

If you just assumed he knew it should have gone to the ceiling, that's not his fault. There are some people that do install it as pictured, I've seen a few online.
gpraceman55
13 years ago
Couldn't they just take regular filler strips and use them to fill the gap?
Vertise
13 years ago
That would typically go to the ceiling. He should have asked if he wasn't able to handle it then and there.
michellemarie
13 years ago
A good trim carpenter can make it work and will order the right pieces. If you told your carpenter that you wanted this to go to the ceiling then he should have made sure you had the correct pieces. I think the way it is now looks terrible.
User
13 years ago
Did the KD do a molding profile diagram for the installer? I always do, and it will show if blocking is needed and how the pieces interrelate. That way there is no mistake.

If your molding pieces were to go to the ceiling, then additional blocking or another piece would be needed. The angle piece of the molding has to have something to attach to, and without blocking, it attaches to the starter molding, which reduces the overall height of the stack. It would need an intermediate installer supplied blocking piece so it could reach the ceiling. Overall, it's a less than optimum designed molding stack, as well as poorly implemented. It possibly could be taken to the ceiling with some solid stock from KM if you've got a different trim carpenter or cabinet installer.

This post was edited by live_wire_oak on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 20:02
User
13 years ago
The KD should have use the 6" high starter molding instead of the 3, and there would have been no need for blocking. And the installer should have seen that to take the molding to the ceiling would require blocking, as I show below. Both are at fault here. So, they should split buying the new molding and installing it for you.
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
When crown is called out by a size, it is usually referring to the width of the board, and not the drop from the ceiling. But yours looks sort of bigger than 4 1/4" compared to the 3" tall top filler.
The way this should have happened: the installer mocks up one side of a cabinet or whatever small area, and sees the problem and shows you, so a remedial path could be sought. Maybe if all of the 3" filler was exposed it would close the gap. That would entail fastening an extension to the top of that filler so the crown would have a place to fasten. It's likely that the filler is partially covered by crown right now, so you are losing some of its height.
The fact is the crown is going to get munged up when pulling it down, and the filler is ruined because it has nails in the face that will be exposed if extended as above. So your going to have to wait for a re-order. If that's acceptable and the responsible party agrees to pay for it (moldings are unbelievable money) that's your way through. But IMO the gap doesn't look so bad.
Part II: My crown/ceiling line is uneven and has tapering gaps! help!
Casey
robbcs3
13 years ago
Your molding only has a height projection of 3 5/16". This plus the 3" starter molding and the cabinets only = 90 5/16, and does not account for any overlap of the molding to actually nail it up. In theory they should overlap by 3/4" meaning your trim should max out around 89 1/2" from the floor.

The 6" starter should have been used, or another stacking technique. Kraftmaid does offer 1 crown profile that has a 4 1/2" height projection. It's a cove crown though- more simple.